Meeting 3/10/25

Attendees: Lucia, Felicity, Shabana, Jo Wardlaw (TA); Beth and Fran – remote.

Christmas Fair

·       29th Nov. Hackbridge and Carshalton Frost Fair have theirs on the 6th Dec so looking not to clash.

·       Donations Days – 5/11, 20/11/, 28/11 (money, pre-loved toy, chocolate)

·       Wristbands to be used again. No need to purchase new ones as we have them in cupboard.

·       Secret Santa – Beth to organise gifts. Price £4. Usually run by Yr 6. Jo W will talk to the Yr6 teachers.

·       Choir 12:30-13:00 & music – Emily Dicey to organise.

·       Chocolate tombola

·       Agreed to spend £20 for new games.

·       Santa key’s on a Christmas Tree - £1 each to purchase

·       Beth asked whether we thought we needed new sum-up machines. £20 each. Purchase of 2 was agreed as we only have 2 that work.

·       Lucia and Jo W will discuss the games over the next week.

·       Prize hut – 1 stocking filler which will be from the left-over prizes from the last few fairs. Then a pre-loved toy. Pre-loved toy could be puzzles, board games, plushes etc clean and working order

·       Jo W would like to sell hair band that her nurture group are making.

·       Tokens for staff to have a drink/portion of food agreed as per previous fairs.

·       ? Alison to do food. Lucia to talk to Alison.

·       Raffle – Lucia has around 12 vouchers already, continuing to email and visit businesses. A letter will be sent to parents for donations. It was suggested a cash prize be offered to increase sales. Can try a business to donate or alternatively if the prize hut is donations, the money saved here, part could be the considered as a cash prize.

·       Santa – we need to find someone to be Santa. Not put on posters as we can never be 100% sure.

Laura’s Suggestions:

·       Craft - Elf workshop to be run by Laura, needs to provide costs for committee to approve purchases. How much will craft cost per child?

·       Christmas letters – done last year and not popular. Who would reply to the letters?

·       Gingerbread house/man to decorate, Christmas eve boxes, reindeer food, hot chocolate cones – concerns that too many extras where parents have to pay for and losses due to not being able to reuse. Not agreed.

·       Snow tray/play dough area – not ideal for carpeted areas, additional clean up required. Not agreed.

·       Snow ball fight area – too cold, volunteers will not stand outside to supervise. Not agreed.

·       Santa keys – agreed this was a good idea. Plan to hang them on a Christmas tree for purchase £1. Leftovers can be re-used for another fair. Agreed.

·       Mulled wine – done before and was not successful. Also needs volunteers. Not agreed.

·       Advent calendar – we have an advent truck, we can use this as a game however was used quite a lot in the past and was decided to not use it for a few years and have new games. Not agreed.

·       Face painting – always done by EYS. Lucia will speak to Mrs Kelly to arrange if she needs any stock.

·       External food trucks – Beth said the reason this was explored in the past was we had no volunteers for the kitchen. We now have an established group of volunteers and the kitchen makes a good profit. Was decided to explore food options with the volunteers and not look at food trucks. Not agreed.

·       Guess the candy in the jar/guess name of elf – only 1 Agreed. Decided on Guess the name of elf (or similar plush). Felicity will investigate if we can get this donated.

·       Story time with elf – can be done within elf workshop as this would need additional space and volunteer. Too noisy to do in main hall.

·       Inflatable Snow Globe – cost is £300 is is large L-18.5ft, W-15ft, H-11.5ft, needs 2ft perimeter. D/W School Premises Manager. Can only be outside. Concerns raised about anchoring it to the floor and weather conditions as in previous years there was heavy winds. Would be considered high risk on the risk assessment. It was also raised volunteers would not want to stand out in the cold. Not agreed.

Lucia spoke to school staff after the meeting:

·       Mr David - Staff room can be used ensuring sink/fridge and photocopiers are blocked off. Access to KS2 Year 5 classrooms for Secret Santa and Prize hut - can be accessed from inside to avoid visitors going outside in the cold. Use tensa barriers to ensure people not wandering into library or other classrooms.

·       Alison – will run kitchen with office team – nuggets, sausage rolls and chips. Easy to cook and keep warm.

·       Mrs Kelly – EYS to run face painting as usual and will purchase anything that is needed and reimbursed by PTA.

AOB

·       Zactive AKA Steel from Gladiators will visit the school on the 14th Oct. This is fully funded by the PTA.

·       Disco 23rd October – the school day will be a non-uniform day for all children, no donation required.

·       Exploring PTA events which is a site that other PTA’s have recommended to manage events, payments, lists. Lucia to find out all associated costs and present at a future meeting.

Next meeting: 7th Nov, 9am, community room. If you wish to join remotely, please contact Felicity. This is on Google meet.